The portraits are the creation of a California-based artist named Loren Stump, are mind-bogglingly intricate

Dec 27, 2014 14:19 GMT  ·  By

This might come as a bit of a surprise, but the portraits pictured in the gallery below are not painted or anything of the sorts. They are basically blocks of glass and they were created by melting rods of different colors together.

The portraits are the creation of an artist named Loren Stump, who started experimenting with glass when he was just a teenager. In time, he became incredibly skilled and can now create intricate patterns simply by putting molten rods together.

Resurrecting an old art

The artist explains that his creating these portraits from molten glass is an illustration of an ancient art known as murrine. Although this art emerged in the Mideast about 4,000 years ago, it was in the 16th century that Venetian artists took it to a whole new level.

As mentioned, Loren Stump began working with glass while still at a young age. Thus, it was when he was about 14 years old that he put together his first pieces made from this rather tricky material.

At first, the California-based artist created glass portraits and figurines as a way to pass the time. Otherwise put, it was all just a hobby for him. However, this passion eventually grew to become a full-time job.

In case anyone was wondering, it looks like being a glass artist really pays off. Not to make anyone hate their regular, boring job, but some of the pieces made by Loren Stump sell for a whopping $5,000 (roughly €4,100) each. Pretty impressive, right?

Apart from portraits, the California-based creates glass statues, paperweights and even jewelry, Oddity Central tells us. The pieces are all gorgeous and, consequently, quite popular.

How the artist makes the portraits

Loren Stump explains that, to create a piece, he starts by adding layers of molten glass of different colors to a two-dimensional image that he refers to as the core. The resulting structure is then stretched in the form of a rod, he details.

Once the rod cools, the artist simply slices through it and reveals the intricate patterns formed in its cross-section. It is these patterns that form the portraits and the landscapes the California-based molten glass artist is famous for.

“An elaborate image may contain hundreds of components and be assembled and pulled and reassembled many times,” Loren Stump told the press in a recent interview.

Interestingly enough, the artist says that, although most of the pieces he creates are two-dimensional ones, he masters the ancient art of murrine well enough to be able to create three-dimensional designs as well.

Artist uses molten glass to create stunning portraits (6 Images)

These portraits were created using molten glass
The portraits are the work of an artist named Loren StumpThe artist started experimenting with glass when he was 14 years old
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